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But when the benign tumors start causing problems — bleeding and pelvic pressure or pain, for
example — women and their doctors start talking about treatment options. Those can include
hormone-based medications, treatment to cut off blood flow to the fibroids, surgery to remove them
and, in extreme cases, hysterectomy.

Riverside Methodist Hospital recently began advertising its newest option, one that’s available
on a limited basis nationwide: ultrasound treatment performed with the help of an MRI, no incisions
necessary. It works by heating fibroids and burning the tissue with ultrasound waves that go
through the abdomen.

The technology was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration in 2004 but only now is
coming to Columbus. Cost and concern about reimbursement from insurers have slowed its
availability.

OhioHealth has brought the technology in as partof its new fibroid center at Riverside. The
hospital system spent more than $3 million on the project, including the MRI and ultrasound
equipment.

Doctors have not yet used the equipment on a patient, but they are working with several
candidates.

A typical hospital charge for the procedure is about $7,500.

Although the treatment is not considered more effective than other options, and there’s little
data on long-term benefits to patients at this point, it offers patients a noninvasive approach and
speedy recovery.It is recommended only for women who don’t plan to have children. After the
procedure, patients’ most-common complaints are abdominal and back pain and nausea or vomiting.

“I really just wanted to go with the least-invasive procedure first,” said Julie Crouch, who is
awaiting word about whether her insurer will cover the ultrasound treatment.The 45-year-old Powell
resident noticed problems when she began having to urinate frequently a few years ago. If Crouch is
un-able to get the ultrasound, she said, she’ll go for uterine artery embolization, which stops
blood flow to the fibroids, effectively starving them.

Dr. Eric Dolen, an interventional radiologist at Riverside, said that about one-third of all
women with problematic fibroids could be candidates for the ultrasound procedure. It’s best for
those with fewer and smaller fibroids that are in the outer lining of the uterus.

Dolen said the technology gives doctors a good view of the fibroids and a focused ultrasound
that allows them to destroy only the problematic tissue.

Dr. Stuart Jones, the chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Riverside, said this is one of
several options that women should be made aware of. What works best for an individual depends on
her priorities and the nature of her fibroids, he said. At the new center, patients will meet with
specialists and discuss all the options, he said.

Dr. Michael Blumenfeld, clinical director of the Center for Women’s Health at Ohio State
University’s Wexner Medical Center, said 20 to 40 percent of women have fibroids during their
reproductive years.

Many women who go to Ohio State have been opting for robotic surgery, he said. The hospital has
no immediate plan to add the ultrasound treatment, nor do the hospitals in the Mount Carmel Health
System.

“This is a tool, one that can be part of the armamentarium that can be used,” Blumenfeld
said.